Dear Billy T and Somerville News Weekly Speakup Line,

Once again I am begging the traffic department and the city council to bring some immediate relief to the plight of the Winter Hill businesses. It has been several weeks now since we had a meeting at city hall about the problems of Broadway and we have not seen or heard anything about some relief for the Winter Hill area. We have tried not to be bothersome so everyone can enjoy the holiday season. And now that everyone is sworn in and back to work we would like to get this resolved before these poor people go broke waiting. The unused protected bike lane is still sitting there dormant blocking less mobile people from going to the new businesses that just opened up there. Also one person we know of in the apartment building up the street cannot go in or out legally because of the bike lane as she is very immobile. It is tragic enough that this even happened and was overlooked but to let it continue is even more tragic. We had hopes the council members that were elected to represent us would at the very least try to help them and use some influence to convince them to do the right thing.  There is no doubt in my mind that by now most everyone must know the plight of these businesses and must have some sympathy for them. This is not something we can allow to happen here. A mistake was made and it should be fixed, not ignored. These people rented these places in good faith and don’t deserve this. I realize you keep saying you have no say but it should not mean you can’t ask and try for the people you were elected to represent.
I would also like to ask a couple of questions.
One is who do I contact to get information on how to go about putting a question on the ballot?
Two, how can I get a change made to the charter?
I have been looking on the Somerville site and cannot find an answer on how to do these. I would appreciate at least knowing how to go about both of these and who can I see to get these in motion.

Arthur Moore